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Six Steps to Being a Better Patient
It’s tough to find a good doctor these days. When you do find one, how can you as the patient contribute to the doctor/patient relationship in a positive way? Try to adapt these six steps to your next visit.
Step 1: Your doctor can’t do it alone.
The best doctor can do very little with patients who ignore instructions. Sometimes noncompliance is partly due to the doctor not explaining things well, but compliance is ultimately in the hands of the patient. Many doctors find themselves mystified as to why some patients will ignore nearly everything their doctor says and yet continue coming in for regular appointments.
Step 2: Be honest.
The main reason most people are untruthful is that they are embarrassed about the truth. While I can sympathize with this feeling, I don’t see any good reason to be anything but truthful with your doctor. Yes, your symptom might sound strange. Yes, you may have flubbed up and not followed instructions properly. Yes, you may be afraid of what some of your symptoms may mean. But the goal is to fix (or prevent) problems, and trying to do that with bad information is an exercise in futility.
Step 3: If you don’t trust your doctor, leave.
People go to the doctor because doctors have unique knowledge, training and experience. The stakes are as high as they can get, so why would you go to someone you don’t trust? It does not matter if everyone else says this is a good doctor; if you don’t trust him, find another doctor.
Please remember that trusting a doctor does not mean you should not ask questions. In fact, I think a physician who does not want to be questioned is one you should not trust. Questioning is one of the best ways to build trust.
Step 4: Take Notes.
Write down the things you and your doctor discuss, making sure you understand what the doctor said. Don’t hesitate to ask the doctor to repeat something, or even to write it down for you. Richard Frankel, a geriatrics professor and senior research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute of the Indiana University School of Medicine says “We know that there are a lot of medical errors that result from the lack of checking patients’ comprehension. If the doctor doesn’t check to make sure you’ve understood, you should.”
Step 5. Be Wary of Online Health Info.
Not all health information on the Internet is reliable, Frankel cautions. “Talk to your doctor about which Web sites they feel comfortable with. Some have their own Web sites with links to other sites they’ve checked themselves,” he says.
Step 6. Bring a Friend.
A trusted friend or relative can serve as an extra pair of ears in the doctor’s office. Particularly when a patient is older or if you expect something complicated, it’s helpful to have a spouse, son or daughter — someone you trust with confidential information join you. Oftentimes they think of questions you don’t think of in these stressful times.
As a patient, do you follow these rules?
Comments From Dr. Esposito
I once had a patient call my office and tell my staff that she was interested in making an appointment as a new patient. However, she wanted a copy of my diploma and state license as well as three patient references that she could call before she came in the office.
Although this method of evaluating my services was quite shocking, I respected the process and obliged. Ten years later she is still a patient and has referred many people to my office.
After that experience I was more keen to evaluate how people pick their doctors and I found it quite sad that most people spend more time picking their mechanic, their gardener or their maid, then they spend choosing their doctor.
The doctor-patient relationship is a very special and important relationship. I would advise you to pay for a consultation with two to three doctors and take time to find out their health beliefs, share your health beliefs, then find out if they can respect those differences. You should also learn about their training both academically and in active practice.
Once you find the doctor that at least respects your health beliefs and is someone you can trust, then I would say you could feel comfortable building a relationship with them.
